Using big data to help manage global natural assets Posted on : Feb 11 - 2019

Research led by the University of Southampton is helping to tackle one of the biggest sustainability challenges - looking after and nurturing the natural resources in the world around us.

The study outlines a new approach for using environmental 'big data' to understand where different approaches to managing our 'natural capital' (e.g. forests, lakes, soils) are most effective, so the environment continues to provide us with the food, water, recreation and timber on which we all depend.

The work has been carried out with co-authors from Forest Research (the research agency of the Forestry Commission) and the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH). Both organisations collect the big data used in the study, via the UK's Countryside Survey (CEH) and National Forest Inventory (Forest Research). The study is part of SCALEFORES, a €1.5m project funded by the European Research Council (ERC) and findings are published in the journal Nature Sustainability.

To demonstrate their method, the scientists applied it to the management of both forests and ponds. They show how the cleanliness of Britain's ponds are affected by how intensely the land around them is farmed - but only in the north of Britain, where soils are sandy (allowing pollution to flow through them quickly) and there is less air pollution. This demonstrates where measures to reduce the amount of chemicals used by farmers will be particularly effective for protecting our freshwater environment.

The scientists also show that forests in the east of the country are usually more at risk from the invasive plant species rhododendron if there are other forests nearby, but that this is not usually the case in the west of Britain. This is because in the east, soils are usually less suitable for the bushes - hence they can only spread if woodlands are close together. View More